Mayor Joseph Solomon, left, faces Republican challenger Sue Stenhouse in the mayor’s race.
Understanding that fundraising is only a proxy for voting trends, it does tend to indicate the level of a candidate’s support among likely voters.
In the summary of campaign activity Stenhouse filed with the Rhode Island Board of Elections yesterday, she reported raising $13,368 in individual and party contributions and adding another $2,000 personal loan, and spending about $11,500 on campaign-related expenses, like advertising and fundraising events.
For a first-time mayoral candidate, that’s a respectable showing, especially since the majority of her contributions, almost $9,000, were made after the Sept. 12 primary.
And it provides an early answer to one of the questions about Stennouse’s potential in the mayoral race — whether she can raise the money to fund a competitive campaign. Still, while Stenhouse’s early results look positive, she has to make up a lot of ground, quickly.
That’s because Solomon went into the primary with about $219,000 in his campaign coffers, and in the time since, added another $8,275 in contributions while spending $30,615, according to his campaign finance report. About half of that spending went to BlueWave Consulting LLC of Jamestown for professional services.
Of the remaining $196,000 in Solomon’s campaign accounts, $100,000 is from a loan he provided earlier this year.
The bottom line: While Solomon has a 50-1 funding advantage with 28 days to go until Election Day, it’s not the only indicator of how he may fare. Stenhouse has a lot of ground to cover in a short time, and could still make this a competitive race.
Author: Joe Hutnak - [email protected]
Co-Founder and Editor-at-Large of Warwick Post. For Warwick Post-related inquiries or communications, email [email protected]
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